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From rainforest to table: Lacandon Maya women are critical to diversify landscapes and diets in Lacanjá Chansayab, Mexico

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Abstract

Domestic activities, involving productive and reproductive spheres, are mainly performed by women, requiring a great amount of knowledge and skills that are poorly represented in the literature and often undervalued in the society. Women’s role in the food system was investigated in Lacanjá Chansayab, Mexico, a village inhabited by ~ 400 Lacandon Maya people. This research included participant observation for three months in the community and semi-structured interviews with 10 cis-women and 5 cis-men documenting their recipes, the relationships that are developed along their work in the food systems and actions for the restoration of traditional food. Women’s roles in food systems are central; they have an intricate knowledge of their environment and have principal roles in producing, obtaining, and transforming biodiversity into diverse meals within the kitchenspace. But they do more than producing, collecting, and mixing of ingredients. Their role in the food systems creates different types of relationships; the kitchenspace is a source of empowerment, traditional food is crucial for maintaining biocultural memory, and for establishing relationships with other-than-human beings. However, serving traditional foods is also a potential source for discrimination against their families even from members of their own community. It was recognized by participants that traditional food system is a medium for biocultural restoration in their community. Dignifying women’s work, views, techniques, and knowledge in traditional food systems is critical for food sovereignty, social justice, and biocultural restoration.

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Abbreviations

AFS:

Agroforestry system.

TK:

Traditional knowledge.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all the women and men in Lacanjá Chansayab that made this research possible. In particular Rosa Gonzáles Alemán, Sinaí Chank’in Gonzáles, Tifani Chank’in Gonzáles, Eva Chanuk, Koj Chank’in, Lola Chanabol Chanak’in, Ebelina (Chanuk) Chancayun Kin, Chanes Chanajk’in, Regina, Margarita, Ruth, Juanita (Alta) Chanuk, Rosita, Amalia and Patricia. Adolfo Chank’in identified all the ethnospecies and supported fieldwork. Special thanks to partners in fieldwork Gonzalo Álvarez Ríos and Tomasz Falkowski. Gonzalo Álvarez Ríos and Francisco Javier Rendón Sandoval supported taxonomic identification. Grace Taylor assisted with transcribing interviews. Kori Malsegna assisted with designing, organizing, and completing databases. Violet Spann helped with the design of the figures. We also thank for the valuable comments of the two anonymous reviewers of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Dr, 13210, Syracuse, NY, USA

    Lucía Pérez-Volkow

  2. Department of Environmental Biology, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Dr, 13210, Syracuse, NY, USA

    Stewart A.W. Diemont

  3. Department of Environmental Studies, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Dr, 13210, Syracuse, NY, USA

    Theresa Selfa

  4. Department of Agriculture, Society and Environment, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Carretera Panamericana y Periférico Sur s/n Barrio María Auxiliadora, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, 29290, Chiapas, Mexico

    Helda Morales

  5. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro 8701, Col. ExHacienda de San José de la Huerta, Morelia, 58190, Michoacán, México

    Alejandro Casas

Authors
  1. Lucía Pérez-Volkow
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  2. Stewart A.W. Diemont
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  3. Theresa Selfa
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  4. Helda Morales
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  5. Alejandro Casas
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lucía Pérez-Volkow.

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Pérez-Volkow, L., Diemont, S.A., Selfa, T. et al. From rainforest to table: Lacandon Maya women are critical to diversify landscapes and diets in Lacanjá Chansayab, Mexico. Agric Hum Values 40, 259–275 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-022-10352-z

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